Congress votes to strip pensions from members convicted of crimes
H.R. 8427 — Congressional Pension Integrity Act of 2026 · Filed by Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) · 5 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 21, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill strips congressional pensions from members convicted of serious crimes—including rape, sexual assault, bribery, election fraud, embezzlement, and obstruction of justice—or found by their chamber to have engaged in sexual misconduct with subordinates. The ban applies retroactively to past convictions and takes effect when the next Congress begins.
Why we flagged it
The bill directly addresses pension forfeiture for members convicted of serious crimes or found to have engaged in sexual misconduct, establishing a clear accountability mechanism tied to criminal conviction or internal chamber determination.
What the text implies
- The bill applies retroactively to past convictions, potentially affecting current or former members already receiving pensions—this may trigger legal challenges on due-process or ex post facto grounds.
- The 'sexual conduct with subordinates' provision relies on internal chamber determination rather than criminal conviction, creating a lower evidentiary bar and potential for political weaponization.
- Survivor and beneficiary language means spouses and children of convicted members may lose pension income, raising questions about collective punishment of family members for the member's conduct.
- The effective date (next Congress) creates a gap period where members convicted between enactment and the next Congress may retain pension eligibility despite the stated intent.
Who it affects
Ordinary citizens benefit from a clear rule that members convicted of serious crimes or found to have sexually abused subordinates lose their taxpayer-funded pensions. This reduces the public cost of rewarding criminal conduct and reinforces accountability for elected officials.
Named in the bill
House of Congress, Members of Congress, Title 5 USC Chapter 83, Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, Title 18 USC (bribery, elections, embezzlement, fraud, obstruction)
Where it stands
5 cosponsors: 3 Republicans, 2 Democrats.
- Apr 21, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 21, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and House Committee on House Administration · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $30,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 83 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Suhas Subramanyam, the sponsor, reported $356,670 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- National Taxpayers Union — $30,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jun 8, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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